Event: ESPNU BracketBusters
Teams: UC Davis vs. Fresno State
Records: Aggies, 12-14; Bulldogs, 10-16
Where: The Pavilion
When: Saturday at 7 p.m.
Who to watch: Mark Payne should have a good taste in his mouth from the last time UC Davis played a team outside its conference.
On Dec. 31, the sophomore point guard had 17 points, six rebounds and five steals in a 71-42 win over Dartmouth.
Did you know? Vince Oliver moved to third on UC Davis‘ all-time scoring list on Wednesday. The senior finished with 19 points in a 75-73 road win over Cal Poly, surpassing Mark Olson, who is in the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame.
Preview: After playing 12 straight Big West Conference games, UC Davis will take a short break from league action to host Fresno State on Saturday.
It will be the Aggies‘ second-to-last home game of the season and final non-conference game of the year.
All nine Big West teams will be competing in BracketBusters. A total of 102 teams nationwide will be participating in the two-day annual event, which is in its seventh year.
UC Davis and Fresno State haven’t seen each other since they last met in 1984, but UC Davis won’t have to wait until Saturday to watch the Bulldogs live. They host Hawaii today at 8 p.m. in a game that will be nationally broadcast on ESPN2.
Paul George paces Fresno State with 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. On Feb. 9, the 6-foot-7, 185-pound freshman forward led the Bulldogs to an 88-82 upset win over rival Boise State.
George went 9-for-11 from the field and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, finishing with a career-high 29 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
A transfer from Arizona State, junior forward Sylvester Seay is second on the team with 14.7 points and 5.6 boards, and he leads the Bulldogs with 1.7 blocks per game.
– Michael Gehlken
